Hi Friends,
I am back after some travel. I enjoy traveling. Whenever you are, say, on a two hour flight, those two hours are entirely yours. You can be with yourself. In subsequent posts, I hope to write on this aspect: 'being with yourself', which can be mastered into 'The Art of Doing Nothing'!
I will begin where I left you, first by touching upon some questions that have been posed to me. Here are samples on a no-name basis:
Q: Without wanting to pry, I would really like to know/understand how or why you seem to have had a troubled life full of questions before you found redemption.
My reply: If you read the blog posts carefully, you will understand that this 'troubled' existence is unfortunately the true existence of mankind. It is uncaused suffering. Most people are able to deflect themselves from this inner condition. Sensitive ones are not able to. They suffer. But they can transcend this condition and move to a joyful existence that 'normal' beings are not able to enjoy. Most humans spend their entire lives in an artificial existence. All religions have also tried to show this path. Unfortunately the mythology surrounding most religions has been difficult to understand. Followers have blindly followed religion and got lost in the structure.You will find all answers in the blog as more posts follow. Despite the 'troubled' existence I had my share of fun and pleasure. But nothing to compare with the peace and joy I am now enjoying for the past several years.
As you read on you will appreciate that, going for the reasons for your inner 'trouble', as you have sought, is a mental exercise. Any mental exercise will successfully throw up ten or more external reasons why you are 'troubled'. Then starts the process of denial and distraction. See, how smart we are? The whole idea is to stay away from any mental exercise, and just focus your attention on the inner condition without any analysis. I hope to give step by step details of this process. But I have to ready you first.
I don't feel pried at all. These questions are bound to come. Read on.
I am back after some travel. I enjoy traveling. Whenever you are, say, on a two hour flight, those two hours are entirely yours. You can be with yourself. In subsequent posts, I hope to write on this aspect: 'being with yourself', which can be mastered into 'The Art of Doing Nothing'!
I will begin where I left you, first by touching upon some questions that have been posed to me. Here are samples on a no-name basis:
Q: Without wanting to pry, I would really like to know/understand how or why you seem to have had a troubled life full of questions before you found redemption.
My reply: If you read the blog posts carefully, you will understand that this 'troubled' existence is unfortunately the true existence of mankind. It is uncaused suffering. Most people are able to deflect themselves from this inner condition. Sensitive ones are not able to. They suffer. But they can transcend this condition and move to a joyful existence that 'normal' beings are not able to enjoy. Most humans spend their entire lives in an artificial existence. All religions have also tried to show this path. Unfortunately the mythology surrounding most religions has been difficult to understand. Followers have blindly followed religion and got lost in the structure.You will find all answers in the blog as more posts follow. Despite the 'troubled' existence I had my share of fun and pleasure. But nothing to compare with the peace and joy I am now enjoying for the past several years.
As you read on you will appreciate that, going for the reasons for your inner 'trouble', as you have sought, is a mental exercise. Any mental exercise will successfully throw up ten or more external reasons why you are 'troubled'. Then starts the process of denial and distraction. See, how smart we are? The whole idea is to stay away from any mental exercise, and just focus your attention on the inner condition without any analysis. I hope to give step by step details of this process. But I have to ready you first.
I don't feel pried at all. These questions are bound to come. Read on.
Q: There is enough evidence of basic human unease. There is also enough evidence of the myriads of ways we try to cover it up or masquerade it. But there is hardly any evidence that someone could surmount it, to discover something entirely different. I shall wait for your future posts.
My reply: You know, it is true that not many people would have reached the level of FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS (FH), but the beauty is in being on the journey towards FH, rather than treating it as a start to finish sprint. Through authenticity and by acknowledging your inner condition, you impart spirit to your life. Life turns richer and deeper. While on this journey, simple things that you routinely notice could turn alive. We have all watched a setting sun or the beauty of a sea shore. The same view will look far more enchanting once you are on this journey. It is an eye opening experience. On a practical side, I set to write a post on 'Living life one step below FH'. You will get a fuller answer to your question then. Any thing that you do in life will be a richer experience for you as well as for others dealing with you. For instance, you can become a Spiritual CEO!. And to give you a specific answer, the number of persons who have tasted FH is increasing. Even for such persons, it is never that they have reached the end of their journey and just stay put there. They have to keep renewing their FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS, by continuing their stance and orientation towards life. They are still on a journey. This is an ongoing journey.
Now coming back to the idea that I wanted to leave with you with. I had said I will give you strong evidence of how this inner condition afflicts all of humanity. Most of us get rattled if we have to spend a lot of time doing nothing. Many get unnerved at the prospect of getting bored. I see this more often with today's youth. There is a pressing need to ensure that time is fully structured.
Boredom is a common experience of most people. From time to time.
But we have found ways of not confronting boredom.
We quickly divert our minds.
We occupy ourselves with activities.
Some important and useful.
Others, mere distractions like partying, unwinding, having fun.
We also find comfort in following a time table packed with schedules. In other words, our time is fully structured.
Here is a paradox! We schedule our free time slots, then pack them with activities called fun.
What would happen if we did none of these things?
Is it possible to live with boredom without a struggle?
On a more serious note, boredom can be unnerving if left unchecked. How do we find out?
My own experience tells me that lurking beneath boredom is the painful, but fundamental, human condition. Most of us have never been exposed to our inner condition, but all of us can sense it. So we always run away from boredom. Our mind is trained to pick early warnings of an impending confrontation with our innermost condition. Boredom is one of them. Loneliness is another example.
Loneliness
Why are we so afraid of loneliness? Don't we try our best to distract our minds, or get busy with things if there is a possibility of facing loneliness?
Have we ever wondered what would happen if we courageously faced boredom or loneliness, instead of fighting them or struggling against them? This could well be a good starting point. Just relax and observe yourself as you are engulfed in boredom or loneliness. Just be with the feelings without any 'cause-effect' analysis. Your mind has no role to play in this initiative. This is authenticity. You courageously acknowledge that you are bored or lonely. But do nothing about it. Just observe yourself. Observe your being. It could be very uncomfortable. If it is, then you have tasted the basic inner condition. Those who can sustain their attention, may notice that the inner condition can be quite painful. If you have reached this stage you have taken your first step towards a spiritual journey. The journey that could take you closer to FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS.
For those who are consciously feeling the inner pain most of the time, may be suffering depression, anxiety, meaninglessness (remember category 1 that I had referred to in Series 4?) can attempt the same stance with whatever they feel. Just focus inwards, observe your pain, do nothing about it, just be with it. Do not try to analyse. The moment you get into a mental exercise, you have lost it.
So, friends, I hope this is a good place for me to sign off. I will be back soon.
Cheers!
Deepak Chatterjee
chatterjee.deepak33@gmail.com
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